83rd Fighter Aviation Regiment

83rd Fighter Aviation Regiment 83. lovački avijacijski puk
Unit's badge since the 1990s
Active	1944-1964 1968-1999
Country	Soviet Union  Yugoslavia  Yugoslavia
Branch	Soviet Air Force Yugoslav Air Force Yugoslav Air Force
Type	Regiment Brigade
Role	Fighter
Part of	Air Defense Corps
Disbanded	1964 and 1999

The 83rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (Serbo-Croatian: 83. lovački avijacijski puk / 83. ловачки авијацијски пук) was an aviation regiment established in 1944 as 1st Yugoslav Fighter Regiment (Serbo-Croatian: 1. јugoslovenski vazduhoplovni lovački puk / 1. југословенски ваздухопловни ловачки пук, Russian: 1-й Югославский истребительный авиационный полк) formed from Yugoslav partisan aviators on training in Soviet Union.

The 1st Yugoslav Fighter Regiment was formed on 14 October 1944 in Krasnodar, USSR, from Yugoslav partisan aviators sent on training by October 1944. It consisted from three squadrons equipped with new Yak-3 fighter aircraft. It had 180 personnel, which from five were staff officers, 37 pilots, 37 mechanics, and others. By the end of training and arming with Yak's regiment became operational by May 1, 1945. It has moved from USSR taking off by September 7, 1945 and land in Yugoslavia by 14 September at Zemun airport. Two days later it was renamed in to 254th Fighter Aviation Regiment.

The commander of regiment was Petar Radević and commissar was Viktor Bubanj.

The 254th Fighter Aviation Regiment was formed on 16 September 1945 by renaming of 1st Yugoslav Fighter Regiment at Zemun airport. It was part of 3rd Air Fighter Division.

Because of the crisis at Northwest of county, it has dislocated to Novi Sad by Spring of 1946, and to Ljubljana by Summer-Autumn same year. On 9 August 1946 a pair of Yak-3 aircraft piloted by the Lieutenant Dragan Zečević and Warrant Officer Dragan Stanisavljević have open fire and hit USAF C-47 which has violated Yugoslav airspace flow over Ljubljana airport at 12 p.m. which has forced landing 12 km near Kranj. One passenger, Turkish captain was wounded by hit, while crew and passengers were captured by Yugoslav Army. Later it was released by August 22, and the tension made with this incident and another one shooting down of USAF C-47 with fatal consequences for whole crew of five airman was reduce after Marshal Tito ordered to pay $150.000 to families of killed US airman. By winter it moved to Mostar and than again in 1947 across Novi Sad to Ljubljana and Cerklje where it stayed during late 1947 and 1948.